College Research Paper on the Innacuracies of International Dubs, Specifically Dragon Ball - NEED CREDIBLE SOURCES

[nickzambuto]

I have been assigned a research paper in my English class with extremely vague and open guidelines - basically, the task is to identify a problem, and propose a solution. That is the only qualification for the topic, I can basically choose anything.

Naturally I wanted to write about something that interests me, and as somebody who is currently in the middle of transitioning from the Dragon Ball FUNi dub to the original Japanese audio, the topic of dubbing and localization is on my brain. I decided that the whole subject is oozing with information and history, and if we find it so interesting, maybe it can be a good Research Paper topic. There's definitely a helluva lot of information to research and facts to get straight.

Below is my (working) thesis statement:

"Foreign language dubbing companies, both American and otherwise, should strive to remain as faithful to the source material as possible in order to retain the integrity and intent of the original artist, but to do this requires effort and contribution from not just the dubbing company, but the original foreign producer as well."

Nothing groundbreaking to us nerds, but just consider all of the information we casually possess on this topic. That's a lot of interesting points I can write about to an everyday-average reader. Ideally I'd like the core of my paper to focus mostly on Dragon Ball specifically, but I figured I should branch out and discuss foreign language dubbing in general just so the topic gets taken a bit more seriously. I plan on discussing Saban and FUNi's fear of alienating an English market and trying to hide the fact that the show is Japanese, Americanizing characters and the tone in an attempt to gain mass appeal, and the seeming fact that this was unnecessary as the show was accurate in many other countries and became just as popular. However, I also want to focus on the blame that lies with Toei, and by extension, the original producers of these foreign writings for not putting forth enough effort to ensure an accurate localization that gets their original points and intentions across. Toei is notorious for not caring about the international market and outright underestimating the popularity of Dragon Ball outside of Japan. They basically didn't (and don't) care about helping or collaborating with FUNi at all, hence the fact that Sabat and Co. had to adapt their scripts from the Mexican translation and got their video from the Mexico, and had to issue a replacement score because the audio that Toei provided them was corrupted. Not every character change was a conscious decision on FUNi's part, sometimes it came down to simply not having any information on the character and being forced to just make it up. We have a recent example of that with Hit's "Time to make the donuts" line in Xenoverse 2. In fact, wasn't the Bardock special dubbed without any script at all? I think I read that somewhere.

In other words, this is not an attack on Funimation or worship of Japan; responsibility falls on BOTH in order to ensure a faithful localization, and the same applies when American products like The Simpsons are dubbed to other countries (there's an entire Wikipedia page about the various Simpsons dubs and their changes)

ALL THAT SAID, here's my problem. The General Requirements for the paper call for "at least five authoritative, credible, reliable primary sources". It goes on to list examples such as peer reviewed journals, university publications, those from government such as the National Institute of Health or the Department of Justice, or business publications. These examples define what qualifies as "authoritative, credible, reliable primary sources."

So I guess this means I can't just reference geekdom101's YouTube videos or something like that, right? Does anybody have any advice or any links to articles about this subject that would be taken seriously and would qualify as "authoritative"? Any sources for things like Toei's underestimation of the franchise's popularity and lack of interest in the foreign market, and Saban and FUNi's fear of alienating the western audience? That's basically all I'm asking for, is actual sources for all the information I already know.

The sources don't have to be strictly Dragon Ball related (but I'd like it to be), anything on the subject of foreign dubbing will help me out.

[VegettoEX]

My counterpoint would be:

What if the international licencor doesn't care about that artistic integrity? Many shows are licensed out with the understanding, even hope if not REQUIREMENT, that things be edited and adjusted and censored and changed in order to broadcast and sell it to as huge and wide an audience as possible. Glitter Force, the dub of PreCure, appears to be just that.

They are businesses after all, and I think it would be naive to assume that just because a show DOES get censored and adapted, that it somehow inherently means the original producers isn't aware of its effects if not outright directly responsible for it with specific intent and reasoning.

[ParkerAL]

I guess this doesn't count as a credible source under your listed criteria , but I recommend reading this class research paper about the Cardcaptor Sakura dub, if only to look at how they formatted and sourced their topic somewhat academically (They have a few Wiki notations in their works cited list. Don't do that!).

Google Scholar is a good tool for tracking down research papers. Your college or university might provide free access to other online databases, like JSTOR, too.

You could also try looking through Kanzenshuu's press archive to see if there's any interview content pertinent to your topic. That said, I'm not sure if any of the publications count as ""authoritative, credible, reliable primary sources" under your teacher's definition.

[nickzambuto]

My counterpoint would be:

What if the international licencor doesn't care about that artistic integrity? Many shows are licensed out with the understanding, even hope if not REQUIREMENT, that things be edited and adjusted and censored and changed in order to broadcast and sell it to as huge and wide an audience as possible. Glitter Force, the dub of PreCure, appears to be just that.

They are businesses after all, and I think it would be naive to assume that just because a show DOES get censored and adapted, that it somehow inherently means the original producers isn't aware of its effects if not outright directly responsible for it with specific intent and reasoning.

Is this the case with Dragon Ball though? I don't think so, Toei seems to possess complete apathy towards the international market rather than outright approving or spearheading the changes. That's why Sabat and co had to write and dub based off the Mexican script and video. Toei gave them almost nothing, besides corrupted music files which led to the necessitation of the replacement score. FUNi was barely even provided character descriptions and Brian Drummond couldn't remember if he even had a picture of Vegeta to base his performance on. This doesn't sound like either Toei approving of OR being dissatisfied with Dragon Ball's Americanization; it sounds like apathy. Them contributing nothing and not bothering to work with or help their international dubbers at all, which is what NECESSITATED the English dub to just make information up.

The problem is that this is all anecdotal information. The whole point of this thread is that I need credible sources to cite on all this information. I already have everything in my head from so much time spent in the fandom, I just need actual sources of the information. Sources for things like FUNi's policy on Americanizing things, Dragon Ball's equal or greater success in countries that kept their dub faithful (proving that Americanization was not necessary), and Toei's disinterest in anywhere outside of Japan. Does Kanzenzhuu have any guides or articles or even podcasts on this topic?

[nickzambuto]

I guess this doesn't count as a credible source under your listed criteria , but I recommend reading this class research paper about the Cardcaptor Sakura dub, if only to look at how they formatted and sourced their topic somewhat academically (They have a few Wiki notations in their works cited list. Don't do that!).

Google Scholar is a good tool for tracking down research papers. Your college or university might provide free access to other online databases, like JSTOR, too.

You could also try looking through Kanzenshuu's press archive to see if there's any interview content pertinent to your topic. That said, I'm not sure if any of the publications count as ""authoritative, credible, reliable primary sources" under your teacher's definition.

Thank you! This helps me a lot. I already have all the information in my head from spending years in this fandom, which is convienent because I'm not great at researching. I just need to find actual sources for it, which is difficult for me, because as I said, I am not great at researching.

[Kamiccolo9]

Primary sources generally aren't academic writings (those tend to be secondary sources that are based themselves off primary sources.) While any of the editorials listed on this website would qualify as a primary source, assuming they dealt with your topic, of course, an issue may arise where the fact that they were translated by Herms or Julian as opposed to a "professional" translator might render them unusable as sources. I'd check with your professor on that. I personally don't accept amateur translations for things I assign, but your instructor's mileage may vary.

Are you sure you listed the types of accessible sources correctly here? Peer-reviewed journals are not typically primary sources for a humanities paper.

[ParkerAL]

The press archive I linked to is a collection of non-Japanese media items, so translations wouldn't be a concern with them.

[Kakacarrottop]

FUNimation talk about how Saban made them censor the series in these links, i think both sources would qualify as reliable.

http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/inte ... nt-6396506
http://dbzu.3gkai.com/opinions/bwatson.html (word for word transcription of an interview from an old Animerica magazine issue)

[VegettoEX]

of course, an issue may arise where the fact that they were translated by Herms or Julian as opposed to a "professional" translator might render them unusable as sources

For what it's worth, both have the highest JLPT certification, and we technically have a credit on the Dr. Slump DVD set, so we're "professional"... right?!

Our "Press Archive" may indeed be a worthwhile source. The Watson interview listed above is housed there along with tons more from that issue and beyond. A couple old articles/editorials I might recommend are this and this.

For your convenience and pleasure, page citations and listed on the main "Press Archive" page for every item we have.

[Kamiccolo9]

of course, an issue may arise where the fact that they were translated by Herms or Julian as opposed to a "professional" translator might render them unusable as sources

For what it's worth, both have the highest JLPT certification, and we technically have a credit on the Dr. Slump DVD set, so we're "professional"... right?!

Our "Press Archive" may indeed be a worthwhile source. The Watson interview listed above is housed there along with tons more from that issue and beyond. A couple old articles/editorials I might recommend are this and this.

For your convenience and pleasure, page citations and listed on the main "Press Archive" page for every item we have.

Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, I wouldn't have a problem accepting that. Honestly, the issue would only arise if the professor asked who translated the stuff, but if they are certified, then it shouldn't be an issue.

[Danfun64]

Different dubs were inaccurate in different ways. AB Groupes dubs were inaccurate in terms of dub names and consistency. Funimation was inaccurate with the various script changes. The European Portuguese dub was inaccurate in both ways. The Arabic dub basically gutted major parts of the show's premise (that the Dragon Balls summon a dragon, and that the Oozaru are directly connected to the Saiyans) for the sake of appeasing the censors.

[nickzambuto]

The paper is coming along well. I'd like to thank everyone here for giving me direction, and I have one more request. Does anyone know of any sources proving or discussing Dragon Ball's popularity in other territories, particularly Latin America, and how it proves that the show's culture did not need to be censored or changed in order to become popular?